


Cold Season

by agrajag



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: First Kiss, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Menstruation, Sick Fic, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2019-03-16 11:08:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13635063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agrajag/pseuds/agrajag
Summary: Dex woke up on Friday morning feeling like his head was going to implode. He tried to breathe but his nose was completely blocked and he realized he must have been breathing through his mouth the whole night. He reached out and blindly felt for the chapstick he kept on the bedside table and groaned when he heard it fall hopelessly to the floor. That was a terrible decision because that triggered him to start coughing and oh lord. His head felt like it was going to split open.





	Cold Season

**Author's Note:**

> dex is trans in this fic and he gets his period while he isn't dysphoric i feel like i should warn it does deal with him having to deal with well what comes with a period

There was no avoiding cold season when you lived in a dormitory. As soon as Dex heard someone coughing in the common room as he was making his way back home from class, he knew it'd be only a matter of time. Within three days, he'd be trying to discreetly wipe his nose on his practice jersey sleeve during practice. He hoped that now that he lived in the Haus, he could at least _try_ to avoid it. Sure, he was still surrounded by germs all day in class, but being a Poindexter, he usually was off to the side of the classroom in lectures with assigned seating, so as long as the person behind him wasn't sick, he wasn't being sneezed on like most of his classmates. Which he honestly hoped, between that and the extra vitamin C he'd been taking, that would be enough to save himself because unfortunately the little red X in his daily planner informed him that his period was coming up. God, that'd be unbearable, if he had to deal with a cold and cramps all at once.

Dex woke up on Friday morning feeling like his head was going to implode. He tried to breathe but his nose was completely blocked and he realized he must have been breathing through his mouth the whole night. He reached out and blindly felt for the chapstick he kept on the bedside table and groaned when he heard it fall hopelessly to the floor. That was a terrible decision because that triggered him to start coughing and oh lord. His head felt like it was going to split open. Well, there was no way he was going to be making it to class that day. He pulled his phone out from under his pillow and text Chowder to ask him to get his work from their shared classes. When he didn't receive a response within a couple minutes, Dex started to worry, but then he actually looked at the time and realized it was 4:30 in the morning.

He started coughing again and realized he was never going to be able to fall asleep again in his condition. He managed to roll out of bed, stumble down the hallway, and started rummaging through the bathroom cabinet hoping there were some cold tablets in there. There weren't, but there was some cough syrup, so at least he could be rid of half of his symptoms. He took the highest possible dose and made his way downstairs. He got himself a large cup of water and laid down on the couch. He knew he wouldn't be able to fall asleep until the medicine kicked in, so he figured he might as well not torture himself. He turned the TV on and immediately set it to mute. He was at least lucky that late night/early morning television wasn't as terrible as when he was sick as a child and was stuck watching infomercials. He settled in with something on Animal Planet and watched cute animals on mute and next thing he knew, he was being woken up the sound of Bitty making breakfast in the kitchen. Dex pushed himself up until he was sitting and groaned. His whole body was stiff and hurt. That's what he got for falling asleep on the tiny couch.

Bitty must have heard him, and he appeared in the doorway with his mixing bowl resting on his hip.

"Mornin' hun," he said softly. "How ya feelin'?"

"Like death has warmed over," Dex replied.

"Figured it had to be bad if ya slept down here. Ya up for food, or should I make ya some soup?"

"Thanks Bitty," Dex said and smiled. "Honestly, you're too kind to me sometimes." Bitty rushed over and pressed the back of his hand to Dex's forehead. Dex laughed, well tried to laugh and then coughed, and swatted Bitty's hand away. "What are you doing?"

"Ya must be really sick if you're talkin' like that."

"Nah, it's just a cold, I think." Though Dex wasn't entirely sure anymore. His stomach was starting to hurt too, and he wondered if maybe he had caught something worse or if he was simply hungry. "And I think I can keep something down. You're making pancakes?"

"Actually, I was thinkin' waffles. Jack sent over a waffle maker for the Haus, and I wanted to try it out."

"Oh cool. You need any help?"

Dex had a hard time adjusting when he had first arrived at Samwell. He had accepted the scholarship because he had hoped to meet more people like him. His family had been amazing when he had first come out, and he did love his hometown, but it was small and ocassionally Dex felt so alone. Yet, when he started his freshmen year, he immediately went right onto the defensive, which he supposed was his default setting. He even was rude to Bitty at first even though right there on his own team he had someone he could talk to. He realized he had been harsh because while he had come out as trans, he hadn't come to terms with his sexuality. It wasn't until after his first Hausgiving, helping Bitty with that one pie, that he started baking with Bitty more and they became really close. He was the first person on the team he had told about being trans and the first person he ever told that he was gay.

"I didn't really think I could be both, you know," he had said. "And seeing you, being so open about it, I may have done some terrible things. I'm sorry."

"Oh, hun, it's alright. Thank ya for apologizin'. It's tough for all of us, and we all react differently. I'm always here for ya if ya need to talk."

Dex had teared up a little and ended up hugging Bitty. He found himself baking with Bitty as often as he could, and he even would bake by himself if Bitty wasn't around. He discovered that it helped him relax, and he was doing better relating to those around him. He had had a long talk with Nursey before they moved into Lardo's old room. He had apologized for how he treated Nursey when they first met and explained calmly how what Nursey had said hurt his feelings. They still argued once in awhile, but Dex was proud to call Nursey one of his best friends. For real. They even had decided to come out to the team together after a tipsy night marathoning The Good Place and neither of them could stop drooling over Chidi.

Dex was brought back to the present as Bitty tsked and gently pushed him back onto the couch.

"You're sick. Ya sit your butt back... down... mister." Bitty trailed off and set down the mixing bowl on the coffee table. "Hun, um, ya seemed to have gotten some... on the couch."

"I didn't hear that one part. Some what on the..." It was Dex's turn to trail off. The pain in his stomach made sense then. He was a couple days early, but it seemed he had gotten his period while he had been sleeping. "Well, shit."

"Do ya need me to get ya anythin'?"

"No, thanks Bitty. I'm gonna go clean myself up and then I'll take care of the couch. Honestly, though, this is just my luck." Dex rested his face in his hands. "I'm sick, and I've got my period, and I don't feel dysphoric yet, but I could at any moment, and I hate being a cliche, but I want chocolate."

Bitty pat Dex on the back.

"I'll put some chocolate chips in the mix."

Dex laughed softly. "Thanks again, Bitty."

Dex forced himself to stand up despite the fact that it made him feel a little dizzy. He opened the door to his and Nursey's room quietly and tip toed in. He pulled a pair of underwear from the dresser and went to the bathroom. He slipped off his pajama pants and briefs and threw them in the sink. He got a pad out from under the sink and took care of that first before washing the stains off his clothes. He hung them up in the shower to dry and ended up running into Chowder on his way out.

"Hey Dex, I saw your text," he said. "How are you feeling?"

"Absolutely awful," Dex answered truthfully. "Thanks, man, for getting the work. Uh, in advance."

Chowder leaned in to hug him. "Of course, man. Now, excuse me. I really gotta pee."

Dex laughed which, of course, led him into another coughing fit. He should know better by then. He wandered back downstairs and was led to the kitchen table by Bitty's gentle hand. There was a plate of chocolate chip waffles already waiting for him, and Bitty handed him the bottle of syrup.

"Eat up, hun."

As Dex stuffed his face with waffles, even if he could barely taste them, the rest of the team joined them one by one. When they found out Dex was sick, he was bombarded with get wells and hope you feel betters. As everyone finished up breakfast and made their way to class, Dex helped Bitty clean up the plates. Nursey was the only one who was still hanging around by the time Bitty gave Dex a hug before heading out himself. Nursey joined Dex at the sink and grabbed the sponge from him.

"You shouldn't be doing that," he said. "You should go lay down."

"You're starting to sound like Bitty," Dex said with a pout. Nursey just laughed and finished up the dishes for him. "So, is there anything you need me to pick up for you?"

"Oh, well, we only have cough syrup. I could use the stuff that covers congestion and fever, too. And, uh, I doubt there's tissues in the Haus. Once my nose goes from blocked to runny, I'll need those."

"Alright. I'll see you later, then. Please try to get some rest."

Dex couldn't tell if it was because his nose was stuffed or if it was Nursey in protective mode, but he was having trouble breathing.

"Oh, uh, yeah. I'll try."

Nursey leaned in and gave Dex a quick hug and then left. Dex went back into the living room and was greeted by the stain that was still on the couch. With a sigh, he went into the kitchen and grabbed the dish soap and a rag. After he had cleaned it up, he set some paper towels on the wet spot so he could lay down and turned Animal Planet back on. He couldn't help but keep checking his phone to see if enough time had passed so he could take more cough medicine. His chest was starting to hurt from coughing so much, and honestly he just wanted to sleep more, but he was never going to fall asleep when he was in pain. He was about to give up and go get his laptop so he could at least work on some code when he heard the front door open.

"Did someone forget something?" he called out.

"It's me," Nursey called back. Dex looked up to see Nursey coming into the living room carrying several bags. "I may have gone a little overboard, but I wanted to make sure I got everything you'd need. So there's cold medicine, day and night, tissues, tea for your throat, some soup, and the most important." Nursey pulled a little stuffed lobster out of one of the bags.

"Very funny, Nurse," Dex said, but he smiled as Nursey threw the lobster at him. He caught it and cuddled the lobster to his chest. "You know, I thought you'd stop at the store on your way home from class. You didn't have to go right away."

"And let you suffer? That wouldn't be very nice of me. Besides, we live in the same room, so I'm probably gonna be feeling it myself later." It took everything Dex had to not laugh, but he succeeded that time as Nursey sat down next to him and pulled out the daytime medicine. "Take this. Oh, wait. Lemme get you some water first."

Dex watched Nursey walk to the kitchen and frowned. He had felt closer to Nursey since they had moved into the Haus, but that was as friends. Right? Sure, Nursey was good looking. Everyone on the team had to admit that. Not like Dex talked to the team about boys, or anything. Well, maybe to Bitty sometimes. Although that always led to him mooning over Jack, but Dex couldn't blame him. He might revert to being a hopeless romantic if he had a great boyfriend. Someone who took care of him like Jack took care of Bitty.

Nursey came back and handed Dex a glass of water.

"C'mon Dex. You gotta take some medicine. Don't you want to not be so congested? Like, sitting this close to you, I can hear how bad it is and it's making me feel gross."

"I dunno. If I _do_ take this, then I'll move onto the sneezing stage and that's gonna suck since I have my period, too. Ugh, oh my god. I can't believe this."

"What's wrong?" Nursey asked as he put his arm around Dex's shoulders.

"I don't think I have that many pads left. I'm gonna have to go out and get those."

"Hey, it's alright. I'll go back out. You shouldn't have to leave the house today."

"Oh, wow, I think I want to kiss you," Dex said before he could stop himself.

"Uh, no offense, Dex, but your standards are pretty low," Nursey said with an awkward chuckle. "Though I'm gonna assume you just said that 'cause you're sick."

"No, not really. I may not have said it just yet if I hadn't been sick. I _am_ kinda out of it, but I think I've been falling for you for quite some time, but it really hit me because you're being really sweet." Dex held the stuffed lobster even closer. "Oh God, I'm Bitty. And you're Jack."

"I'm not entirely sure what you mean by that," Nursey said, but he sat back down next to Dex. "But since I probably have your germs already, we could kiss if you want to."

"Yeah, I'd really like that."

Nursey leaned in and pressed his lips to Dex's. God, Dex knew his lips were so chapped and his breath must smell horrible and he was kinda sweaty, but he didn't want it to end. Unfortunately, he had to pull back when he had an intense cramp.

"Are you alright?" Nursey asked.

"Yeah, I just really feel like such shit. Maybe not the best time to have our first kiss. But I guess I don't really care. So, you're skipping class, then?"

"Yeah, we can play hooky together," Nursey said. He pulled his legs up underneath him on the couch and held out his arm. Dex immediately cuddled up next to him and rested his head on Nursey's chest. Nursey reached behind them and pulled the throw blanket and covered them with it. Dex took the cold medicine and then handed the remote to Nursey.

"You pick something to watch. I think I've had enough of cute animals."

"Enough of cute animals?" Nursey asked, faking shock. "I was too late. There's no saving you now." Dex shoved at Nursey's thigh as Nursey laughed. "You have the cutest pouty face. Calm down. I'm picking something, I'm picking something."

And that's how Bitty found them several hours later, passed out on top of each other on the couch, some low budget movie playing on SyFy channel. Dex was breathing through his mouth and Nursey was sniffling. Bitty tsked and went into the kitchen to start making some soup.

**Author's Note:**

> i believe this is what the kids these days call a vent fic


End file.
